There has been talk in the Pearl section questioning RIM not providing software or at least a "How To" in regards to getting videos on to the Pearl.

For months I have opined that it possibly has to do with RIM not wanting to get sued by the Studios for copyright violations, etc. The basis for my statement was, and remains, that if RIM provided software, a "how to" or references to Sites, etc. about converting movies for the Pearl, that the Studios would sue RIM as they have done against other sites or software producers. [E.g., DVD XCopy who were put out of business, their argument failing that their software simply allowed DVD owners to make a backup copy of legitimately owned DVD's].

IMHO the same goes for recording MP3's for the Pearl.

In contrast, Apple has avoided suits because, as far as I know, it provides or refers users only to video and music on its Site, that is available for a fee, part of which goes to the Studios and Recording Companies as licensing fees and royalties.

Considering the below, it seems to me that my suspicions and opinion are correct.

So that is why RIM has not provided us Pearl users with even a whisper of how to convert and get video and music on to the Pearl.

Make sense?

_______________________________________________

Record Companies OKed To Sue XM Satellite Radio

A lawsuit in which record companies allege XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. is cheating them by letting consumers store songs can proceed toward trial, a judge ruled Friday after finding merit to the companies' claims.

U.S. District Judge Deborah A. Batts made the finding in a case brought by Atlantic Recording Corp., BMG Music, Capitol Records Inc. and other music distribution companies against the licensed satellite radio broadcaster.

In a lawsuit last year, the companies said XM directly infringes on their exclusive distribution rights by letting consumers record songs onto special receivers marketed as "XM + MP3" players.

XM has argued it is protected from infringement lawsuits by the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992, which permits individuals to record music off the radio for private use. The judge said she did not believe the company was protected in this instance by the act.

In a statement, XM said it remains confident that the lawsuit is without merit and it will prevail.

"At this stage of the proceeding, the court's ruling is required to be based on the false characterizations set forth in the plaintiffs' complaint. The real facts strongly support our view that the lawsuit is barred by the Audio Home Recording Act. We look forward to making our case in court," the company said.

Messages for comment left with lawyers on both sides were not immediately returned.

In refusing to toss out the lawsuit, the judge noted that the record companies consent to XM's use of their copyrighted material solely for the purposes of providing a digital satellite broadcasting service.

She said XM operates like traditional radio broadcast providers who cannot offer an interactive service, publish programming schedules prior to broadcast and play songs from an artist more often than specified within a three-hour period. But by broadcasting and storing copyrighted music for later recording by the consumer, the judge said XM is both a broadcaster and a distributor, but only paying to be a broadcaster.

"The record companies sufficiently allege that serving as a music distributor to XM + MP3 users gives XM added commercial benefit as a satellite radio broadcaster," Batts said.

Although XM argued in court papers that an XM + MP3 player is much like a traditional radio-cassette player, the judge said "it is not."

"It is manifestly apparent that the use of a radio-cassette player to record songs played over free radio does not threaten the market for copyrighted works as does the use of a recorder which stores songs from private radio broadcasts on a subscription fee basis," she said.

Environment
This article is designed to provide information on transcoding audio/video files (i.e., converting to another audio/video format) in order to be played on a BlackBerry device with the BlackBerry® Media Player.

BlackBerry Media Player supports the playing of various audio and video file formats. See the Detailed Specifications section in this article for more information on supported audio formats, audio file containers, and video formats.

Supported Video Formats

BlackBerry Media Player is designed to support playback of videos encoded in the following formats:

Transcoding refers to the conversion of audio and/or video files from one audio or video format to to another audio or video format.

Because of the wide range of audio and video formats available on the Internet, transcoding may be necessary to allow the BlackBerry Media Player to properly play the audio and/or video file on your BlackBerry device.

Determine if an audio or video file needs to be transcoded

Complete the following steps:

Use a search engine or a dedicated download site to find and download a third-party codec information program.
The third-party codec information program must have the ability to determine the format in which the audio/video file is encoded.
Note: Examples of codec information programs are MediaCoder - The universal audio/video transcoder 0.5.0 (must be in Normal Mode, MediaInfo Libraries enabled, and Update Checking disabled), GSpot Codec Information Appliance, and Sherlock - The Codec Detective.

USE OF THIRD-PARTY SOFTWARE IS SUBJECT TO THE DISCLAIMER AT THE END OF THIS ARTICLE.

Install the third-party codec information program and follow the program instructions to determine the format of the audio/video file.
If the file is not encoded in a format that BlackBerry Media Player supports, transcode it to a supported format.
Transcode an audio or video file

Complete the following steps:

Use a search engine or a dedicated download site to find and download a third-party conversion tool. The tool must have the ability to convert the format of the audio/video file to a file format that the BlackBerry Media Player can read.
Note: Examples of conversion tools areMediaCoder - The universal audio/video transcoder 0.5.0 (must be in Normal Mode, MediaInfo Libraries enabled, and Update Checking disabled), MEncoder, Pinnacle, andQuicktime Pro.

USE OF THIRD-PARTY SOFTWARE IS SUBJECT TO THE DISCLAIMER AT THE END OF THIS ARTICLE.

Install the third-party conversion tool and follow the program instructions to convert the audio/video file format that BlackBerry Media Player supports. Refer to the following table for optimal settings in BlackBerry Media Player.

Optimal Settings for BlackBerry Media Player

Video settings
Audio settings

Video format: MPEG-4
Video file extension: .avi

Resolution: 240x180

Video bitrate: 400 kbps

Frames per second: 30
Audio format: MP3 (i.e., LAME MP3)

Audio bitrate: 128 kbps

Sample rate: 44 kHz

Channels: 2 (Stereo)

Transfer the audio/video file from the computer to the BlackBerry Pearl 8100 smartphone using one of the following methods:
Using BlackBerry Desktop Manager

Note: BlackBerry Desktop Manager version 4.2 must be installed on the computer.

In BlackBerry Desktop Manager, open BlackBerry Media Manager.
Use BlackBerry Media Manager to transfer the audio or video file to the BlackBerry device via a Universal Serial Bus (USB) connection.
Copy the files to the appropriate folder (either \blackberry\Music or \blackberry\Video) on the microSD card, or directly to the internal smartphone memory.
Note: Files larger than 3 MB cannot be transferred to internal smartphone memory.

Using the BlackBerry Pearl 8100 smartphone as a USB mass storage device

On the BlackBerry Pearl 8100 smartphone, go toOptions>Advanced Options>Media Card.
Make sure that Mass Storage Mode Support is set toEnabled.
Connect the BlackBerry Pearl 8100 smartphone to the computer and follow the prompts on the smartphone.
Open the My Computer folder on the computer. The microSD card should appear there as a Removable Disk.
Copy the files to the appropriate folder (either \blackberry\Music or \blackberry\Video) on the microSD card.
Using a microSD™ memory card reader

Make sure that the microSD card reader is connected to the computer.
Insert a microSD card into the microSD card reader.
Open the My Computer folder on the computer. The microSD card should appear there as a Removable Disk.
Copy the files to the appropriate folder (either \blackberry\Music or \blackberry\Video) on the microSD card.
Insert the microSD card into the BlackBerry Pearl 8100 smartphone.

BlackBerry Media Player does not support playback of the following third-party files.

iPod and PSP videos

iPod and PSP audio and/or video files may not play properly on the BlackBerry Media Player unless they are first transcoded to a format that BlackBerry Media Player can read.

To transcode these files, follow the steps provided in this document.

Google Video

BlackBerry Media Player does not directly support the playing of videos available on Google™ Video.

However, you may be able to play such videos on the BlackBerry Pearl 8100 smartphone if you download either the iPod or PSP® version of the video (in .mp4 format), and then use a third-party encoding tool to convert it to a format that BlackBerry Media Player can read. To use a third-party encoding tool, follow the steps in this document.

*Certain features outlined in this document require a minimum version of BlackBerry Enterprise Server software, BlackBerry Desktop Software and/or BlackBerry Device Software and may require additional development or third party products and/or services for access to corporate applications and/or use of certain models of BlackBerry devices. Your use of third party software, hardware, products, and/or services (collectively, the "Third Party Information") shall be governed by and subject to your agreement with the third party, including without limitation, your agreement to the terms of separate Third Party Information licenses, if any. Any Third Party Information that is provided with or without RIM's products and/or services is provided "as is". RIM makes no representation, warranty or guarantee whatsoever in relation to the Third Party Information and RIM assumes no liability whatsoever in relation to the Third Party Information even if RIM has been advised of the possibility of such damages or can anticipate such damages. The inclusion of Third-Party Information herein does not imply endorsement by RIM of the Third Party Information or the third party in any way. RIM does not control and is not responsible for any Third Party Information or the use of such Third Party Information, including without limitation, the content, accuracy, intellectual property issues, compatibility, performance, trustworthiness, legality, decency, links, or any other aspect of the Third Party Information.

When it comes to getting multimedia content on out phones, I think that we are pretty lucky. I know that Verizon phones you have to buy the ringtones from them, meanwhile we can just use DM to transfer media to our phones. I think its the same when it comes to getting video on there as well.

It sounded like you were complaining that RIM didn't include instructions on how to get video uploaded to the Pearl. Fortunately, through this website and it's helpful members, there is no need for such instructions and you don't even have to be computer savy.

I think it has more to do with the fact that they aren't a multimedia company and the added costs of supporting a bunch of clueless individuals who can't seem to follow instructions correctly (or have absolutely no clue when it comes to media conversions, etc). Additional, unneeded support costs are some of the top reasons why certain companies don't expand their horizons and offerings. They are not a software company and have never claimed to be one (aside from their enterprise and OS offerings), with very few exceptions (Yahoo messenger, etc). They never issued guides on how to make WAV or MP3 files, or program MIDI files, etc., so why should they give that attention and luxury for video files? Just my opinion.

__________________In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and is widely regarded as a bad move.

It sounded like you were complaining that RIM didn't include instructions on how to get video uploaded to the Pearl. Fortunately, through this website and it's helpful members, there is no need for such instructions and you don't even have to be computer savy.

Quite the contrary, I have never complained about such. I have always opined why RIM has not provided "video instruction." Maybe I need to rewrite my OP in clearer terms. I thought news of the lawsuit was a timely example of the issue.

The point of this thread was to provide some substance on my opinion and to address to member statements and complaints about RIM "dropping the ball" on video, as compared to the iPhone, for example.

Duly note your ardent support for the "FREE" [as you emphasized] BlackBerry Video Creator program, but your endorsement and cheerleading of that program's author and opinion on how easy it is to use the program have nothing to do with this thread.

I think it has more to do with the fact that they aren't a multimedia company and the added costs of supporting a bunch of clueless individuals who can't seem to follow instructions correctly (or have absolutely no clue when it comes to media conversions, etc). Additional, unneeded support costs are some of the top reasons why certain companies don't expand their horizons and offerings. They are not a software company and have never claimed to be one (aside from their enterprise and OS offerings), with very few exceptions (Yahoo messenger, etc). They never issued guides on how to make WAV or MP3 files, or program MIDI files, etc., so why should they give that attention and luxury for video files? Just my opinion.

Excellent points. I could see tech support for video would open a whole can of worms in terms of additional costs.

I'd be curious about the reasons behind the decision not to touch the subject whatsoever. I think it's legal, but could be a combination of factors including those you mention.

I'd write them and ask, but they would refer the question to their lawyers in which case I would not get a response.

Totally agree with you once again, big companies need to avoid useless lawsuits which would cause them a lot of money losses. I think the fact that they don't give instructions with the Pearl on how to encode and put videos is a the right idea, and if they did put instructions they would have to go the route Apple uses and give instructions based on videos they provide and distribute for other companies for a fee. I know how they post is very informative for people that keep complaining and I hate to say it but in a week or two, it's going to the bottom of the list and people who don't use the search function will once again complain again. I'm also not sure if they is stickied material though hehe... very close imo.

In the end RIM is a smart-phone manufacturer. They have only added the multimedia capabilities to sweeten their product. Apple on the other hand is in the entertainment business, it is in their best interest to make their products easy to use. I think RIM wants to make sure that is push email, calendar, nad other vital features before worrying about video encoding. But hey thats just my 2 cents.